out there were no streets and he had to do the paving, and i think the strongest part of our culture is "the family". we may have our dysfunctions but our families never dessert us and my family didn't know much with the lgbt issue so when i came out of the closet i thought they would be so upset i would lose them. wouldn't happen. once my son had a sign that said "i love my gay son that never calls" and that is it and i want to welcome the counsel general and his partner and actually we share a vice, and it's called napoli. i think i can say it right. (.

[speaking foreign language] . we don't want you to do that but want to work out programs to share our fabulous culture and again thank you. [applause] >> hello. i am honored. i am david chiu president of the board of supervisors. i fall in a long line of succession of italian presidents at the board of supervisors. i am here honored to be supporting our board and my colleague scott wiener and representing the oldest italian neighborhood here on the west coast and i know you have heard from leno and amaino i want you to know my italian friends introduce me as david chiu o. 20 years ago like

every elected that didn't grow up in san francisco and i know we are all from different areas i came here 20 years ago from the east coast and in part i was fascinated by chinatown and it's next to the old italian neighborhood of north beach and in the great cities like boston et cetera and when i walked around that neighborhood it was the neighborhood that drew me to the great city whether being reminded of great baseball players, the joe migage i don't play ground. >> >> or the fisherman or the piazza that i look forward to work with angela to lobby the mayor to adequately fund it. there are special quarters that come from the community that are represented tonight and i am

happy to come and raise a glass to all of you and look forward to cel celebrating the italian. >> american history. thank you. >> good evening. i am verna patty. i am coming from congresswoman pelosi's office. she is celebrating in washington dc the italian culture with the minister. "dr. friends greetings as you. >> >> gather in san francisco to celebrate italian culture in the united states. thank you for the opportunity to join so many friends, guests and dignitaries with fellow italian americans to bring the celebrations. the celebration is more of a

celebration in art and music, fashion and design, literature and architecture. it is reaffirmation of the enduring bonds between the united states and italy and tribute to our history as partners and allies and marker of our shared value and heritage. our ties are embedded in the very root of the american story. america is discovered by the italians and named by an italian and built by thousands of italians and our community representing literally millions of bridges between the countries. through research and innovation italy will remain a bafton of creativity and beautiful. may our common history and sustained by our common values and common faith in the future continue to grow

and flourish. with warmest regards, nancy pelosi". thank you very much. [applause] >> so mayor lee, senator leno, state assembly member and leaders and ladies and gentlemen. it's a real honor for me to celebrate with you today the start of the italian culture in the united states. nancy pelosi was with our foreign minister in washington dc, but san francisco is the first major city after washington dc that follows suit, that follows washington dc, so again a little like the giants that want to be number one. today is december, 12, 2012

which is 12-12-12. kind of scary. i would like to quote rem. "it's the end of the world as we know it but we're just fine". we are just fine because we're beginning really 12 months that will be exciting and fun for all of us. as you all have mentioned italians have made a lasting contributions in building this city, and in making what it is, the city that is international, innovative and open. it's difficult to name names but let me mention angela rosy and judge misconnie and in city hall and in the hearts and minds of san franciscans. let me mention ap geny and found an important bank and the inventor what we call the micro credit and helped the city recover

from the big earthquake of 1906. guy mo roller who was the founder, established the opera in san francisco, by the way there's an italian directing the opera and laurence fergetty and 93 and good friend of the community. he is the father of the b generations and the guy that started the culture revolution of the 60's and 70's so in many ways italians have made lasting contribution to this city and the silicon valley. there is an important engineer that developed the first micro prosser for intel, so it's a tremendous foundation to

celebrate italian culture 2013. also i was reminded by our pastors that san francisco gets its name from an italian man and holly man. it is noted. >> >> for kindness and compassion and generosity and i think these are traits that this city has adopted and made its own traits , so this is not to be under scored, not to be forgotten. what are we going to do in the coming year? basically we have three principles, three guidelines. we want to show beauty and arts. i guess beauty and harmony everyone associates and italy. we want to bring a large paint to san francisco. we want san franciscans to enjoy great art. we would like the

theater of naples play with san francisco. it will be200 year of his birth and we want it to be a special moment and the san francisco bay and the other guiding principle is sustainability and also of lifestyle. we are proud to say in a way italy has shaped global life with our consumer goods, fashion, sports car, coffee, also our industrial design, so we will bring for example jewelry from a heritage collection to san francisco. we will have liz tailors jewels exhibited here in the city. we will have of course food -- especially we like the slow

food philosophy. we will highlight the achievements in the education system and especiallied connected to the experience of a woman like maria montessori. the third principle is innovation and technology. when i say italy everybody will think of the arts and music. they don't think of technology yet we want to persuade you there are lots of things to be discovered. i was working in the world of energy and there i think we have taken enormous steps in the direction of a modern sustainable green economy, what we call now distributed generations of people producing and consuming energy. this is happening at an incredible pace in california and i know california like this is and we want to connect with california. some of the events will require the supports of the leaders that are here present,

the leaders of the italian american associations. i am very proud to say that all of the leaders of the italian american associations are gathered today, mr. mayor, and senator assembly man and board of supervisors is here to celebrate with us and ramona blackwell who with the committee of the italians abroad and elected body and we will need your support and it's not just top down but bottom up. we're are open to your ideas and suggestions. we want it to a great celebration and people are in charge and in power and they will also run the show. that's our objective. by the way also have guests from outside california and salt lake city -- i don't know where he is because i can't see anything with the lights. there he is. thank you mike for being with us. we

will celebrate also in other cities. definitely i know that with your passion, your pride, and the support of the city and county of san francisco, of the state of california, and hopefully of the house of representatives we will be able to create new opportunities to be together and above all to have fun in celebrating the greatness of italian culture in the united states. thank you very much and enjoy with us. thank you. [applause] >> yeah. angela is asking me

to mention that we're going to gather at 6:30 p.m. on montgomery street, 814 montgomery street. we will have jazz, opera, good slow food and opportunity for all of us to mingle and have a good time. i wonder if there is someone in the press that is following us if they want to ask questions? please. >> [inaudible] you mentioned sustainability. do you define italy as a green country and what do those efforts mean for san francisco. >> yes, definitely. i see that. i am happy while being in san francisco there is such an amazing attention to the environment. people are very environment conscious and i see

community aggregations also to have renewable energy. it makes me very happy because in italy we have been following this path for a very long time. for example in the first six months of this year we installed photovoltaic panels larger than the united states all put together. it shows you the extent of the revolution happening. i am sure italian companies will be happy to work with the local institutions that have started to generate projects that will somehow go in that direction, and also we want to have parties and communication activities to show the people in the street that it is important to have sustainable behaviors and not to leave a carbon footprint behind us.

>> [inaudible] >> yeah, if i understand correctly because -- you said about the innovation -- if we? >> [inaudible] >> yeah, okay. well, we're going to have in the museum of computer science in mountain view an exhibition show casing what italians have done to create silicon valley. i mentioned one person but there are many other examples. along with that we will have a big conference with italian innovators and venture capitalists and along with large hi tech companies of silicon

valley and come together and focus on specific projects how to work together for technological innovation. it will be focused on silicon valley but also the cultural institute in san francisco we have surprises for you that we're preparing. any other questions? >> [inaudible] >> yeah. >> [inaudible] the problem of the public -- i would like for you to answer it -- [inaudible] >> i try not to be technical, but i hope i would be pervasive just telling you the debt crisis is basically a crisis connected to the governments of the

euro system that has hit some countries for some reasons. somewhat we were hit because of the sins of our past. we have been having -- we have had a relatively a sizable but stable debt for a long time, but the point is it's very manageable. we are reducing it pretty fast, very fast indeed, and also to reassure the investors if you put together the net household wealth of italians as compared to the debt of the government and the companies the ratio is three to one, so it's a matter of redistribution somehow. italians thanks to god are a wealtdy people and the matter is how we can put things into order in our household but definitely italy is a major stable solid economy, and once -- already

there are signs of strong improvement. once this crisis is over we will definitely flex the muscles. please. >> [inaudible] are you planning show case any important architects and designers in this year of italian culture? >> definitely. i mean in san francisco there's a wonderful san francisco design week, so we will have an italian design week too. we are planning on an exhibition of cultural institute with major brands of interior design. there's also very nice thing that we're working on. a famous architect has designed the california academy of

sciences, the wonderful building in golden gate park. he has also designed similar museum in italy in my city and the museum is almost finished there, and our ambition is to have him come over and celebrate at the academy, and also talk to young architects about the most sustainable ways to build this century. other questions? if there is no other question i thank you so much. thank our distinguished guest for being here with us and i hope to have a good time with you guys at the italian cultural institute. thank you. [applause]

>> there is no better way to kick off the holiday season than on ice. san francisco has two outdoor skate rinks right in the middle of the hustle and bustle. >> all the way from st. louis just to come to this skating rink right here. >> this is like the perfect place in san francisco. >> it makes me feel like it is the holidays. >> an oasis this rink gives you the option of skating until you drop in union square and while you are at it admire the macy's christmas tree nearby. >> make the skating part of your holiday tradition, be sure

to check the hours at sfpark.org. ♪

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>> >> frantic shoppers around you may be in need of a break from the festivities and have no fear i will count down the places that will add fun to the madness. if you're in good of a good laugh stop by for free comedy night and food and drink speciallies. come laugh the night away at 8:00 p.m. sharp. after that get your skate grove on in your finest black and white duds. join the godfather of skate and his party crew this thursday at the skate night. skate to the funk and rolear disco and say the words "i love skating" and get a discount at the door. maybe the star party

is your cup of tea and socialize and get tips about the night sky and from san francisco's picturesque land's end and the skies the limit. that's the weekly buzz. visit us >> my name is phil ginsburg and the general manager of the san francisco parks and rec department and i want to welcome everybody to the 83rd annual holiday tree lighting. happy holidays to you all. this is san francisco's

official holiday tree right behind us, uncle john's tree and over 100 years old, and tonight it sports over 550 christmas holiday lights. >> five, four, three, two, one! >> yay! i'm the president of friends of

mclaren park. it is one of the oldest neighborhood community park groups in san francisco. i give a lot of tours through the park. during those tours, a lot of the folks in the group will think of the park as very scary. it has a lot of hills, there's a lot of dense groves. once you get towards the center of the park you really lose your orientation. you are very much in a remote area. there are a lot of trees that shield your view from the urban setting. you would simply see different groves that gives you a sense of freedom, of being outdoors, not being burdened by the worries of city life. john mclaren had said that golden gate park was too far away. he proposed that we have a park in the south end of the city. the campaign slogan was, people need this open space. one of the things that had to open is there were a lot of people who did a homestead

here, about 25 different families. their property had to be bought up. so it took from 1928 to 1957 to buy up all the parcels of land that ended up in this 317 acres. the park, as a general rule, is heavily used in the mornings and the evenings. one of the favorite places is up by the upper reservoir because dogs get to go swim. it's extremely popular. many fights in the city, as you know, about dogs in parks. we have 317 acres and god knows there's plenty of room for both of us. man and his best friend. early in the morning people before they go to work will walk their dogs or go on a jog themselves with their dogs. joggers love the park, there's 7 miles of hiking trails and there's off trail paths that hikers can take.

all the recreational areas are heavily used on weekends. we have the group picnic area which should accommodate 200 people, tennis courts are full. it also has 3 playground areas. the ampitheater was built in 1972. it was the home of the first blues festival. given the fact that jerry garcia used to play in this park, he was from this neighborhood, everybody knows his reputation. we thought what a great thing it would be to have an ampitheater named after jerry garcia. that is a name that has panache. it brings people from all over the bay area to the ampitheater. the calls that come in, we'd like to do a concert at the jerry garcia ampitheater and we do everything we can to accommodate them and help them because it gets people into the

park. people like a lot of color and that's what they call a park. other people don't. you have to try to reconcile all those different points of view. what should a park look like and what should it have? should it be manicured, should it be nice little cobblestones around all of the paths and like that. the biggest objective of course is getting people into the park to appreciate open space. whatever that's going to take to make them happy, to get them there, that's the main goal. if it takes a planter with flowers and stuff like that, fine. you know, so what? people need to get away from that urban rush and noise and this is a perfect place to do it. feedback is always amazement. they don't believe that it's in san francisco. we have visitors who will say, i never knew this was here and i'm a native san franciscoan. they wonder how long it's been